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I ran across an interesting
book called Is Shame Necessary?: New Uses
for an Old Tool by Jennifer Jacquet that talks about the rise of shaming in
society, particularly online through social media.

Since online shaming seems
to be on the rise in society, I wanted to understand shaming better, what
causes it, what its uses are perceived to be, and whether there were ways to
avert it or recover from it.

Call it what you
like—shaming, bullying, persecution, trolling, whatever—the internet has
lowered the costs of gossip and shaming and increased its scope and speed like
never before.The power to shame
has been distributed to the people and is not longer just the exclusive
privilege of opinion leaders and government.

Shaming involves exposure in
front of a crowd in order to damage reputation and incur other negative
consequences, such as encouraging others not to cooperate with the shamed
individual.Pillories, dunce hats,
branding, tarring and feathering, and other acts were types of shaming used in
the past.Today, Twitter attacks,
trolling, online gossip, nasty reviews, angry websites, and other such
techniques are forms of shaming.Backlash of this kind can extend to job loss as companies try to
jettison individuals they perceive to be a liability to their reputation.

One reason shaming is used
against systemic corruption of companies and large organizations is that the
large groups have limited their liability through legal structures and the
moral compasses of individuals in the group are undermined, usually by profit
motive.Shaming is used when there
seems to be no legal alternative that brings punishment on offenders.

The author was guardedly
enthusiastic toward shaming as a technique for social control and policing with
respect to ecological and environmental concerns, and seemed to put faith in
shaming as a tool for social change.However, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, I found the enthusiasm for shaming rather alarming.

There is a dark side to
shaming that we are probably already aware of—its use over trivial matters,
shaming in measures far disproportional to the offense, shaming as contempt for
the individual rather than just focusing on the offense, and attacks on human
dignity, the permanence of the evidence of digital shaming, the lack of clarity
on who is doing the shaming, especially with anonymous attacks, and the real
debilitating effect it can have on individuals.

The dark side means that it
is far too likely and easy for shaming to become unjust.While the dogpile happens to the
offender, there is no one standing by to blow the whistle and say, “That’s
enough; any more would be unjust.”

People may perceive Mormons
as having high group cohesion and group mind—meaning the group has intentions
and makes plans—more than individuals that merely share an identity (like
blue-eyed people or basketball players).Therefore the church may be seen by others as being more responsible for
their collective actions, and thus a more worthy target for shaming for
behavior that violates perceived norms.

The church has received its
share of shaming in the last few years, especially in the debate over
marriage.Those trying to protect
traditional marriage have had their names published in newspapers (to shame and
expose them to more shame and attacks), some have had property defaced, some
have been attacked online, some have lost jobs.

From another perspective,
the church’s practice of refraining from publicizing member excommunications
and other disciplinary actions shows that the church does not want ex-members
or dis-fellowshipped members to be publically shamed at church.

Considering how innovations
in communication bring revolutions to society and considering the growth of the
internet, I think shaming as a wider practice is probably not going to go away
any time soon. If anything, it will get bigger until it saturates the limited
economy that competes for human attention spans.

The risk of disproportional
and trivial shaming makes me think that it would be best for us to stay away doing
from any shaming ourselves, since we may not know the full facts, we certainly
won’t know how much the offender has already been punished by others. We don’t want to unknowingly contribute
to injustice. It would be awful to face the Lord on judgment day and be
confronted with the truth that we had ground the faces of our brothers and
sisters in the dust.

When I was reading this
book, some scriptures came to my mind and gained new significance with
reference to shaming.

3 And he
shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of
Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an
offering in righteousness.

4 Then
shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the
days of old, and as in former years.

5 And I
will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the
sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against
those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless,
and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the
Lord of hosts.

6 For I
am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
(Malachi 3:3-6)

The Lord may use the shaming
of His people to refine them, to confront them over their sins and
oppression.

But then, of course Satan
uses it too for coercive purposes, in which case we just have to stick to our
guns.

6 I
gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I
hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7 ¶For
the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not
be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I
shall not be ashamed.

8 He is
near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me.

9 Behold,
the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall
condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them
up. (Isaiah 50:5-9)

4 Fear
not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt
not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt
not remember the reproach of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of
thy widowhood any more . . . .

14 In
righteousness shalt thou be established; thou shalt be far from oppression for
thou shalt not fear, and from terror for it shall not come near thee.

15 Behold,
they shall surely gather together against thee, not by me; whosoever shall
gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.

16 Behold,
I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth
forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

17 No
weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall
revile against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the
servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. (3
Nephi 22:4, 14-17)

For
your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion:
therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be
unto them. (Isaiah 61:7)

These scriptures, especially the
ones of Isaiah quoted in the Book of Mormon by the Christ show me that Heavenly
Father knows all about the rise of shaming and wanted to give us reassurance.

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About Me

Michaela Stephens

Arizona, United States

I'm a happily married 32-year old who switched from Electronic Engineering Technology to Literature, Writing, and Film.
I worked for 3 years at ASU as a writing tutor and have over 400 sessions worth of experience helping people with their writing.
I'm the oldest of seven children (5 boys, 2 girls)
I'm a bit of a neat freak and an undeniable bookworm.

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